Actinidia kolomikta

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Actinidia kolomikta, or kolomikta vine, is a deciduous woody climber from eastern Asia in the family Actinidiaceae. It is grown for leaves that can develop conspicuous white and pink patches and for its small edible fruits. Its native range includes China, Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East.

Appearance and identification

The vine climbs by twining. Its broad leaves have toothed edges and often a heart-shaped base. Leaves may be wholly green, partly white, partly pink, or a mixture of the three colours. Fragrant flowers are white or pink, followed by smooth oval fruits that become pale orange when ripe.

It can be confused with Actinidia polygama. A useful distinction is inside the stem: A. kolomikta has brown pith arranged in layers, whereas A. polygama has solid white pith. Pink leaf patches can also help, but their absence does not settle the identification.

Habitat and reproduction

Flora of China records the plant in openings in mixed mountain forest, at sixteen hundred to twenty-nine hundred metres. In that account, flowering extends from April to July and fruiting from September to October. The fruits are about two to two and a half centimetres long.

Male and female flowers normally occur on separate plants. Both sexes are needed for pollination and fruit production. Botanically, the flowers can contain both stamens and pistils, but one set is generally non-functional: the distinction is between pollen-producing and fruit-bearing flowers.

How the white leaves function

The white patches are not simply dead areas of leaf. A study published in 2022 examined leaf anatomy, gas exchange and gene activity in vines grown at Changchun, China. During flowering, white leaves retained substantial photosynthesis: their total net photosynthesis over the measured day was about seventy per cent of that in green leaves.

The researchers found functional chloroplasts in the loosely arranged inner tissue called the spongy mesophyll, despite poor chloroplast development in the layer above it. They proposed that this helps the pale leaves continue supplying sugars during flowering. The percentage describes their experimental conditions, rather than a fixed value for every plant.

Cultivation and history

The Royal Horticultural Society describes a vigorous garden climber typically reaching four to eight metres. It recommends a sheltered position, fertile soil with good drainage and full sun to bring out the leaf colours. Propagation methods include cuttings and layering. Its account also identifies susceptibility to honey fungus and Phytophthora root rot.

Kew records that Charles Maries sent seed to the Veitch nursery in Britain in 1877; the plant was already cultivated in France and the United States. Its fruits have also been selected in Russia for characters such as size, flavour and ripening time.

A 2022 North American review discussed the vine as a cultivated species with potential to escape, while reporting no confirmed naturalisation there at that time. That dated finding should not be read as proof of present-day absence outside gardens.